Nacht der Untoten: Clone Wars
by cdog1917
Summary: Dr. Nuvo Vindi escapes from jail with the help of Cad Bane. His new experiment allows him to raise the dead. As the group arrives there they must face an entire army of undead. Will they succeed or be torn apart by the zombie horde? Read to find out
1. Chapter 1

(Republic prison on Coruscant, nighttime)

Clones walked around the prison, the prison holding some of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy. A lone clone officer was walking outside the perimeter of the gates to it. As he was walking he saw a hooded figure approaching the gates.

"Who goes there?" the clone said, cocking his DC-15 rifle to the ready. The hooded person kept moving until he was five feet away from the clone.

"I am Captain Kyp, and I order you to identify yourself!" shouted Kyp. The figure pulled out a gun and shot Kyp straight in the head, instantly killing him.

"Next time, if you aim a gun at someone, make sure you're ready to fire it," said the figure. He removed his hood and placed his notorious wide-brimmed hat back on, his red eyes flashing to the gate. Three droid commandos came up behind him, their blasters snapped at the ready.

"You know what to do," said Bane. He took the card from Kyp's body and opened the gate. The droids rushed in, Bane following up the rear staying as low as possible. They got into the first hallway, surprised that no clones were there yet.

"The clones must be sleeping. I'll create the distraction, you guys find the target," said Bane. The droids ran off while Bane followed up a corridor to a barracks. He got to the entrance and pulled both his famous LL-30 model pitols. He activated the door and it slid open, revealing a crowd of stunned troopers.

"Surprise boys," said Bane. He fired off his pistols.

* * *

"I still don't get why they had to put us on prison duty?" said Taran. Taran had turned 15 a week ago and at the moment Ahsoka and him were doing their patrol along the upper corridors of the prison, where Separatist war criminals were held.

"It's just something they do to help Padawans adjust to no fighting for awhile, so that fighting doesn't become an addiction," said Ahsoka.

"Now that I've seen all this combat I can barely imagine what it will be like once the war is over," said Taran.

"I think the same thing too," said Ahsoka. As they walked down the hall they passed a door marked with 'Separatist Prisoner 2658. Vindi.'

"Is that the place where that mad scientist is held?" said Taran.

"Yes, Dr. Nuvo Vindi. He recreated the Blue Shadow Virus and I almost died if it wasn't for Anakin," said Ahsoka. Taran knew the story, Ahsoka had told him a few months back. There was a peep slide on the door so Taran peered in. The alien he saw was a Faust with pale-blue skin and light grey eyes. He was wearing the standard grey prison suit.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't another one of you Jedi Padawans," said Vindi. He rose up, but didn't move forward due to his leg bindings.

"Tell me, is that female Padawan still here. Tell her that she would have had a high honor for being the first killed by the virus," he said. Taran closed the slot.

"This guy is a lunatic," said Taran.

"Tell me about it," said Ahsoka.

"I've heard about the Blue Shadow Virus before you told me about it. My planet was one of the first hit by it. Millions died," said Taran.

"Well it's a good thing that he's not doing any more experiments," said Ahsoka. At that moment alarm bells sounded.

"Trouble," said Taran. They sprinted down the hallway to the security room.

"What's going on?" said Ahsoka to head of security.

"There's an infiltrator in the base. He's already killed some of the men," said the clone.

"Where's he now?" said Taran.

"Hallway A4, going on to C section," said the clone.

"You go one way, I'll go the other. We have to head him off," said Ahsoka.

"Right," said Taran. They sprinted down the hallways in opposite directions. As he was running down the corridors he saw three clones running down the hall in front of him, in the opposite direction.

"Hey, where are you going!" shouted Taran. The clones didn't respond and instead ran straight past him down the hallway he had just come from.

_"Something is very wrong," _he thought. Before he could figure out what it was he heard blaster fire in a room just ahead of him. He ran to the room, threw open the door, and leapt in, lightsaber on. In the room he saw his most hated rival, Bane, in a shootout with some of the security clones. Unfortunately Bane was winning as one clone after another was shot down. Taran leapt in front of the clones and began deflecting Bane's fire away from them.

"Well, well, if it isn't Cyneran," said Bane. He began firing at Taran, who was deflecting them in turn.

"Get more reinforcements," Taran said to the clones as he was defending. The four clone survivors took shelter behind an upturned table and begin to transmit orders for help. Taran deflected shot after shot from Bane as he attempted to get close enough to fight him in close combat.

"Well, I can see you've gotten better from when we last met," said Bane.

"Which means bad luck for you," said Taran. He deflected two of Bane's shots back towards him, causing the bounty hunter to duck and roll to the side of the room. Taran advanced and brought down his blade so that it was pointed menacingly at Bane's throat.

"Game over," said Taran.

"No Cyneran, this game is just beginning," sneered Bane. He pressed a butoon on his comlink and a huge portion of the prison blew apart, sending everyone sprwaling on the ground. Taran fell and Bane leaped up and ran through the door. Taran regained his footing and chased after him. Hot on Bane's heels he was, but Bane turned around and threw a thermal detonator at a group of cloones coming down from a hallway intersecting theirs. Taran was forced to stop chasing Bane and scooped up the detonator and throw it into an empty cell. He slid the door closed using the Force and was sent back to the wall from the shockwave of the blast.

Getting to his feet Taran began running down the hall Bane had went through. He followed the hall and came out to the courtyard of the prison. He arrived just in time to see Bane's ship leaving. Taran cursed and went back into the prison to find Ahsoka.

* * *

Rubble and debris were strewn everywhere as Taran walked through, assessing the damage. Dead and wounded clones lied everywhere as Taran bended chunks of rocks out of the way.

"Taran, I've just contacted Obi-Wan and Anakin, they'll be here soon," said Ahsoka once she saw that Taran was in a hallway.

"Are you alright?" Taran said placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes, but the clones aren't. Many of them are in the medical bay," said Ahsoka.

"This doesn't make sense, why would Bane come here?" said Taran.

"Maybe he came looking for a prisoner," said Ahsoka. They went back to the security room to check on prisoner status. All the prisoners were checked in, but one was unaccounted for. Taran and Ahsoka ran down the hallway to see which prisoner had escaped.

"Out of all the prisoners, which one escaped?" said Ahsoka. The answer came at them when they saw the door blasted opened and a very vacant cell staring at them.

"Bane took Vindi," said Taran.


	2. Secret Experiment

(Separatist Base on Kromus)

Bane's shuttle arrived in the landing bay of the Separatist base, the ship's loading ramp opening as it landed. Out first came Bane himself, then came the droid commandos, taking off the helmet piec of the clone armor they had stolen, and next came Vindi.

"This way, Doctor," said Bane. Vindi happily obliged as he was escorted from the bay to the inside of the base. After walking through several halls they walked into a conference room where the rest of the Separatist Council was waiting for them.

"Good Bane, I see that you have acquired your target in one piece," said Dooku.

"You paid me enough so that he would come in one piece," said Bane.

"I don't like the idea of us having to pay much of our well-earned money to this bounty hunter," said Nute Gunray.

"Viceroy, if I were not being paid you'd all be dead," sneered Bane.

"Past the subject, we thank you for the return of our beloved scientist," said Dooku.

"Your thanks is not neccesary Count. Just give me my credits," said Bane.

"All in good time, but now we have some business to take care of," said Dooku. He motioned for Vindi to sit in a chair across the table from him. "Dr., we have an assignment for you to complete."

"Yes Count, what new project would you like me to start?" said Vindi.

"This new assignment will be totally up to you. As you know we are running short on manpower. You are probably thinking 'How can we run short on droids?' Well the thing is that due to our losses on planet's crucial to our cause our forces are stretched thinly across the galaxy. We need another solution to figure out how we can replace losses fast enough, something that will be very hard to destroy, but if it is then ten times more will take it's place," said Dooku.

"It seems to me Count, that you have come to the right man for this new experiment," said Vindi. "I have already thought of a way for this."

"How long will it take you for this new experiment?" said Dooku.

"About one week should do the trick," said Vindi.

"Any materials you need?" said Dooku.

"A lab, some chemicals, and do you by chance have the body of a dead clone?" said Vindi.

"As a matter of fact, we do," said Dooku. He clapped his hand and two of the droid commandos brought the body of what looked like a clone spy.

"We caught him snooping around here a few days ago," said Bane. "I took care of him."

"Good, now I have what you need. When I'm finished where would you like me to use my new experiment?" said Vindi.

"On the planet Boz Pity. The Republic has benn attempting to capture the planet and I believe that whatever experiment you have in mind will turn the tide if the war," said Dooku.

"Then I shall get started on in immediately. Bring the body into the lab," said Vindi to the droid commandos. As they left Dooku couldn't help but smile.

_"And I know just who to try out the experiment on," _he thought. "How are our forces on Boz Pity?"

"So far they are holding," said San Hill.

"And where is the Third Sytems Army at the moment?" said Dooku.

"Right now, they are repairing on Coruscant since their little space battle," said Gunray.

"Good, let's see if they are strong enough to handle the little surprise we have in store for them," said Dooku.


	3. News

"So you mean to tell me that Vindi is gone?" said Obi-Wan. Taran and Ahsoka had told him the story of how Bane had broke in and captured Vindi.

"This is bad; with that lunatic out there's no telling what he can do," said Anakin. Rex came up to where they were talking.

"Sir, we have some news," said Rex.

"What is it Rex?" said Anakin.

"You know how every prison suit has a tracker so that we'll know where they're at?" said Rex. Everyone's eyes lighted up.

"That means we can find out where Vindi is hiding so that we can find him and put him on trial," said Obi-Wan.

"Do we have a signal?" said Anakin.

"Yes sir, he is currently somewhere in the Mid-Rim," said Rex.

"Does it say what planet?" said Obi-Wan.

"No sir, it just gives us a radius of what area they're in. But if we can amp up the signal it should pinpoint which planet he's on," said Rex.

"Good, we can leave now," said Anakin.

"Master, you do remember that the _Resolute _suffered major damage at Bothawui?" said Ahsoka. Anakin's thoughts went back to the epic space battle they were engaged in a week ago.

"Oh, right. How l;ong till the ship is ready Rex?" said Anakin.

"One week sir," said Rex. Anakin's face fell.

"Okay, but repair the ship as soon as possible, we have a mad scientist to worry about," said Anakin.

* * *

"Taran, you seem bothered," said Ahsoka as they were walking through the Jedi Temple.

"I had Bane right there, so close, and I just let him slip through my fingers," said Taran.

"You weren't going to--"

"No, I came at peace with that thought a long time ago. I was about to slap some cuffs on his hands before he did that pansy move and ran away," said Taran.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Bane's a slippery character. The only way we would ever catch him is--," said Ahsoka.

"Dead," said Taran.

"Well, yes," said Ahsoka.

"I'm just scared. You know what Vindi did the first time. Imagine what he'll do the next time. It'll probably be something ten times worse than the virus," said Taran.

"We'll find him, but for now just relax, and don't agitate too much on it," said Ahsoka.

"I know," said Taran.

"So what do you want to do now?" said Ahsoka.

"I don't know, maybe do some bending practice," said Taran.

"I can help you with that. Do you have your scrolls?" said Ahsoka. Taran pulled them out from his utility belt.

"Wow, someone likes to come prepared," said Ahsoka.

Taran chuckled a bit. "These are the new ones Long sent me," said Taran.

"Where is he now anyway?" said Ahsoka.

"He's on Nimban with the coaliton forces and Master Vos," said Taran.

"Oh, he's with Quinlan. That's a good thing," said Ahsoka. "So which one do you want to start out with?"

"I guess Air, since it's the element I'm not too good at," said Taran.

"Why is that?" said Ahsoka.

"Because an Earthbender has a different thinking than an Airbender. An Airbender evades more than standing firm, which is something Earthbenders aren't really good at," said Taran.

"Oh, so you guys would probably get beat up in a fight more than an Airbender," said Ahsoka.

Taran laughed. "Shut up, but it's that hold 'rock stands solid' ideology. That and because Air is the polar opposite of Earth," said Taran.

"Well, we're going to have to find someway for you to think like an Airbender then," said Ahsoka as they got into the practice room.

"And how will I do that?" said Taran. Ahsoka turned her lightsaber on.

"I think you know," said Ahsoka, a sinister look on her.

"Ahsoka, what are you going to do me?" said Taran, feeling a bit scared.

"You said that an Airbender evades, well I think the exercise I'm about to do will help you get that feeling and thought into you," said Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka, I thought you were trying to help me not kill me!" said Taran, backing up slowly.

Ahsoka just started advancing. "Don't worry, my blade's on low power, however this is still going to hurt."

"Why do I feel like this isn't going to be my best of days?" said Taran.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt, much," said Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka, you know you don't have to do this," said Taran.

"Start running Bender boy," said Ahsoka as she swung.

* * *

"See, that wasn't so hard," said Ahsoka as they walked out of the training room, Taran healing his arms with some water from a nearby fountain.

"Well you weren't being chased around like a hunted animal," Taran pointed out.

"But think, when you used your Airbending you had that evasive ideology in your mind," said Ahsoka.

"You know, you're right. My bending improved a lot since that happened," said Taran. "Thanks."

"Any time, and also you might want to check your rear," she said. Taran saw a burnt patch on his pants.

"Oh come on!" Taran exclaimed. "Why does this always happen to me?"

"Because your danger prone," said Ahsoka.

"You know I love you right?" said Taran sarcastically.

"Yeah, and I love you too," said Ahsoka.


	4. Alert

(One week later)

"Vindi, is your experiment ready yet?" said Dooku.

"Almost Count, very close to success," said Vindi. He was busy inserting chemicals and all matter of contraptions into the clone body.

"And what will this new experiment do?" said Dooku.

"You will see once it is tested out," said Vindi.

"Well hurry, I didn't keep the beacon on your suit active for no reason," said Dooku.

"Patience Count, I am just adding the final solution to my experiment," said Vindi. He pulled out a vial of green liquid and put it under an electric current generated from an transmitter. The solution immediately turned to gas.

"Yes, now we will see what it does," said Vindi. He motioned for Dooku to exit the lab and he closed the dorrs shut behind him. They went into a viewing room that allowed them to see what was going to happen.

"Now, we add the solution," said Vindi. He placed the vial in a socket. The vial was transported straight into the room, smashing on the floor and allowing it's contents to spill into the room. The room filled up with the green gas.

"Come on," said Vindi as he and Dooku stared intently into the room. Nothing was happening.

"It appears your experiment was a failure," said Dooku. At that moment a hand smacked itself onto the viewing glass, and a moan came from the inside of the lab.

"Good, my creation is a success," said Vindi.

* * *

The _Resolute _was up and running and already in Coruscant's atmosphere.

"Rex, you still have the signal?" said Anakin.

"Yes sir, signal still good and active," said Rex. They stood along the holoprojector as the image of the signal came up. It showed all the planet's in the galaxy and what appeared like red rays coming from some unknown point.

"It's somewhere in the Mid-Rim. Rex, zoom into that cluster," said Obi-Wan.

"Yes sir," said Rex. The projector zoomed until there were three planets in view.

"It looks like the signals are stronger from the one in the middle, like that's where they're originating from," said Taran.

"Rex, zoom in," said Anakin. Rex zoomed in until they saw a red dot on the planet Kromus.

"Kromus, that planet's uninhabited since Darrus Jeht destroyed the Starkiller superweapon," said Obi-Wan.

"Well, the planet was a Separatist base, it may still be that," said Anakin.

"Admiral, chart a course for Kromus," said Obi-Wan.

"Yes sir," said Wulffe. The _Resolute _shot forward into hyperspace.

An hour later

Taran and Ahsoka were practicing their lightsaber combat in a little mock duel between them.

"Are you good at any other weapons?" said Ahsoka as they she was blocking Taran's attacks.

"Yes, Rex is showing me how to--(ducks under a slash)--use a blaster," said Taran. "I'm already good at it."

"Really, why would you need to use a blaster?" said Ahsoka as she went on the offensive.

"Because I need to learn how to use any weapon at my disposal if I ever lose my lightsaber," said Taran. He swung and Ahsoka twisted her lighsaber around to trap it and disarm him. He lunged out of the way and summoned his lightsaber back to him and threw his lightsaber like a boomerang at Ahsoka. She deflected it off easily, but had to lunge out of the way as it came back around. When she tried to hop to her feet she saw Taran's lightsaber poised above her.

"See what I mean," said Taran, helping her up to her feet.

"How did you do that?" said Ahsoka.

"What you do is throw it and use the Force to guide it around like a boomerang so that it will come back to you," said Taran.

"That's a cool trick," said Ahsoka.

"It is," said Taran. "We should be coming out of hyperspace in fifteen minutes, what do you wanna do?" said Taran.

"I think you know," said Ahsoka as she kissed him.

"You better stop, this could become an addiction," said Taran when they had ended.

"Well then, I guess I'm your deathsticks then," said Ahsoka. She deepened their kiss, their lips met up in a blinding hot passion. Putting her hand on his chest she felt his heartbeat. It was pulsing, but strangely it didn't feel heated, it felt warm and calm, as if this is what he always wanted. Taran was slowly stroking her lekku, a pleasurable sensation for Ahsoka. As he was feeling one of her sensitive areas her fingers played with a patch of skin where his neck met his shoulder. She had found out earlier that this was one of his most sensitive areas too. Taran moaned passionately in her mouth when she did this. It was like the best kind of rug for him. He guessed in his head that she was his deathsticks.

* * *

"We're approaching the planet now," said Wulffe.

"Good, any signs of life?" said Obi-Wan.

"A few. We also have a reading of many electronic signals down there, possibly a droid army is on the planet," said Wulffe.

"Then if it's a fight the Separatists want, then it's a fight they'll get," said Anakin. Taran and Ahsoka came in.

"Padawan, where were you in and Ahsoka?" said Obi-Wan.

"Practicing," said Taran. Anakin was the only one in the room who caught the double meaning of his words.

"Okay, but get ready, we're about to touch down on the planet," said Obi-Wan.

* * *

"Are our forces ready and the Separatist Council taken off planet?" said Dooku.

"Yes Count," said Bane.

"Good, once they've beaten our forces we can conduct our little experiment."


	5. Suicide Attack

Once the _Resolute _was in orbit around the planet all the LAAT's took off towards the surface of the planet.

"Alright men, and Ahsoka, this has to be done by the book. Take out the droids, capture Vindi, and return back to Coruscant," said Anakin. Anakin was in an LAAT with Ahsoka, Rex, and a few other troopers, while Taran was with Cody and other troopers in another LAAT.

"We'll be touching down in thirty seconds!" said the pilot. The transports were in the clouds. Judging from the sun it was almost nighttime. Once they were out of the clouds they were met with fierce anti-aircraft fire.

"Evasive manuevers!" said Obi-Wan. The LAAT's took off towards the ground as fast as they could in order to drop pff the troops and vehicles. However, the driods fire was taking it's toll on them. A transport next to Obi-Wan's ship exploded when a laser projectile hit it and sent it spiraling down to the planet's surface. Taran was holding on for dear life on the inside of the shuttle, along with Cody, Obi-Wan, and the other troopers. As they were flying down an anti-aircraft round clipped one of their wings, sending them downward faster than they like.

"Level out!" said Obi-Wan to the pilot. The transport tried it's best to, but it was only half working.

"Brace yourselves!" said Obi-Wan. Everyone held on to anything they could as the transport hit the ground with a CRASH. It skidded twenty feet forward before coming to a complete stop. The inside of the LAAT was dark.

"Head count, Taran?" said Obi-Wan.

"Owww," said Taran.

"Cody?"

Here sir."

"Boil?"

"Here."

"Waxer?"

"Scratched up, but fine."

"Anyone else?" said Obi-Wan. Taran checked the remaining clone troopers. Then he checked the cockpit.

"Master, the pilot's dead, and three troopers along with him," said Taran.

"Great! This is just like Geonosis all over again. Everyone, get out of the transport and link up with the rest of the army," said Obi-Wan. He lifted up the door via the Force and everyone scrambled out of the downed LAAT. As they ran they saw the main army engaging the the droid forces. The LAAT's fomed a line for the troopers to take cover behind. The clone's had set up EWHB-12 heavy repeating blasters in the LAAT's to put heavy fire on the droids. AT-TE's went round for round with AAT's and AT-RT's were all over the battlefield, distracting droid forces or giving ground troops more fire support.

Obi-Wan, Taran, Cody, Boil, and Waxer went running behind this while dodging or deflecting blaster fire. They scrambled to a trench in front of the LAAT's that was made from a forward droid position. In here they linked back up with Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, and scattered clones of the 212th Attack Battalion and Torrent Company.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" said Anakin as they took cover in the trench.

"Hard landing," said Obi-Wan. "Get ready to charge!" said Obi-Wan. Everyone on the trench got ready to make a dash for the droid forces.

"Charge!" said Obi-Wan. Everyone took off running for the droids. All the clones in the trench, along with half of the clones behind the LAAT's, ran towards the droid ranks. Some of the clones were shot from the droid fire, but most made it to the droid's lines where close-quarters ensued. The clones poured deadly fire into the droids, sending them down by the tens. But the droids fought hard just as viciously. Some of them appeared to be even suicidal. As Ahsoka was cutting down some of the droids she saw a lone battle droid running for a AT-TE with a bag. Before she could get to it, the bag exploded, causing the droid to break into fragments and downing the AT-TE.

Out from across the plain they were fighting on came droids Taran nor Ahsoka had seen before. They had wheels on their sides, a central 'brain' if they might say, and a cache of missiles directly in on top of it. These were the Separatist hailfire droids (why I haven't seen them in the show I don't know). They unloaded missile after deadly missile at the Republic forces. Missiles tore through armor, sent troops flying, and morale dropping.

"We need to take out those droids," said Obi-Wan.

"What was your first clue?" said Anakin. "Boil, Waxer, Cody, and Rex, put some fire on them." They let loose with their DC-15's and distracted the hailfire droids, although doing this made them it's prime targets. The five droids aimed their missiles at them and fired. Taran erected a wall of earth to intercept them. The wall held, but not for long as Taran strained to hold it.

"Anytime now!" yelled Taran. Anakin and Ahsoka jumped over the wall onto the hailfire droids. They put their lightsaber through the two droids, killing them. The other three targeted the two, causing them to jump off the hailfire droids as the downed droids were hurled away into huge fireballs. Taran took the time to jump over the wall too and send a boulder at one of the surviving droids. It hit it with full force and sent it spiraling into another one. Obi-Wan came up too and finished the two off with some flicks of his lightsaber. That left one hailfire droid. As they cornered it, it did something really strange. It revved forward and went passed them, back towards the troops. As it passed Taran heard it say "Self-destruct in 5 seconds."

"We gotta stop that thing!" he yelled to them.

"4." Rex, Cody, Boil, and Waxer shot at it, but the shpts bounced off.

"3." The clones at the trench and behind the LAAT"s opened fire.

"2." Everyone targeted it, but no shots were hitting as it accelerated at full speed.

"1." Hit's the LAAT line

"0." A huge explosion sends machinery and clones flying everywhere. The shockwave forces everyone to fall backwards. As she recovered Ahsoka saw that nearly all the vehicles and clones that the hailfire droid crashed into were gone, either destroyed or dead. Hundreds of clone bodies littered the plains. Out of the 700 clones who touched down, only 34 were left alive. The droids had acted with savagery and hed flubg themselves at them with suicidal intent, trying to take as many clones down with them as possible. Somehow, it worked. Not only was the Republic forces drastically reduced, they were stranded, and it was nighttime. This was going to be the most horrifying night the survivors would ever remember.


	6. Zombie Attack

Taran came to. As he looked aorund he saw that Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Cody, Rex, Boil, Waxer, and a few others still alive.

"You okay Padawan?" said Obi-Wan, helping Taran up.

"Yes, but I only see you seven and twenty-four others. Is this everyone who survived?" said Taran. Obi-Wan's downturned face gave him the answer.

"We need to find someplace to transmit to Wulffe," said Obi-Wan. As they scanned their surroundings Boil called to them.

"Over there, some lights. About a click North," he said.

"Then that way it is," said Obi-Wan. They walked across the plain, stopping every now and again to see if any clones were left alive. Boil, Waxer, Rex, and Cody picked up ammo and some discarded weapons.

"Why do you need those?" said Ahsoka.

"Just in case we run into anymore Seps. We need all the weapons we can get," said Rex. They walked until they came to what looked like a compound. It was two storys, with many windows. It looked like it was just used. As they walked inside they saw the walls had handprints on them smeared with what looked suspiciously like blood.

"What was Vindi doing on this planet?" said Taran.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," said Anakin. At that moment a loudspeaker came on.

_"Jedi, you have found my secret lab. That is good, since you will now be the first ones to see my latest experiment. I have jammed your communications, so the only people you can contact is each other. Observe my creation," _said a voice that sounded suspiciously like Vindi himself. As he spoke a green mist seemed to roll over the plain, shrouding everything with it's fog. The fog went over the battlefield and sweeped around the outside walls of the compound. Obi-Wan's comlink came on.

"This is General Obi-wan, who is this?" said Obi-Wan.

"This is Private Liner, sir," said the clone.

"Where are you?" said Obi-Wan.

"I'm in the battlefield sir. I'm kind of scratched up here. A piece of metal is pinning my legs," said Liner.

"Stay there, we're sending some guys," said Obi-Wan. "Taran, Ahsoka, Boil, Waxer, and you three. Find out where he is," said Obi-Wan.

"Got it Master," said Taran. They raced outside. It was hard to pick their way through the mist. They couldn't see the ground well, but just enough to not step on the bodies of the dead.

"Liner," they called out randomly, "where are you?" They continued like that for about five minutes. As they were searching they heard odd sounds, like shrieks and moans, but couldn't figure out what it was.

"Liner?" shouted Taran as he was searching.

"Over here," said Liner, about ten feet away. The door of a LAAT was pinning his legs. Taran and the others rushed forward to him and Ahsoka and Taran levitated the door off of him as Boil and Waxer helped him up.

"Can you still walk?" said Waxer as he handed him a blaster.

"Yes, I can," said Liner. "What's with this fog?"

"We don't know," said Ahsoka. The moon was full that night, and they could see the lurking hulks of destroyed vehicles around them, along with the hundreds of dead clones and droid wreckage. As Taran was looking around he saw a figure in the distance. Judging by it's physique he guessed it was a clone.

"Trooper, are you okay?" he shouted over to the figure. The figure did not respond. Instead it ran towards them like it was limping and flailing at the same time.

"What's wrong with him?" said Ahsoka. Taran walked a bit forward to get a look at the trooper running, or if you call that running, towards them. Thinking fast he got a flash grenade from the ground at his feet and threw it forward. The grenade went off and the ground between the two was drenched with light. Taran saw, with horror, that this was no ordinary trooper.

The trooper's skin was grey. Half his helmet was off his head, the other half still on him. His eyes glowed yellow, like lamps, and his face was a bloody mess. It shrieked with a horrifying cry as it ran at Taran. Taran stood frozen with horror as it rushed for him. Waxer came up to his side.

"Trooper, stand down!" he yelled to it. The clone, or whatever it was, came charging towards them. Waxer shot a round off at it. The creature landed on the ground at their feet with a thud, a blaster burn in the middle of it's head between the eyes. Everyone gathered around it. Taran held a fire in the palm of his hand to shed some light on the creature's body.

"This trooper is suppose to be dead, how is it he's up and running?" said Ahsoka.

"Guys, I think you might wanna take a look at this," said Boil. As they turned they saw many shapes in the fog heading towards them. Shrieks and moans filled the air.

"I think we should go now!" said Ahsoka. They raced back to the compound. As they ran they saw that the corpses of the clones around them were doing the unthinkable: they were coming back to life! Everywhere they turned they saw clones, some walking with arms outstretched towards them, some running like the first creature, chasing after them. The clone zombies chased them relentlessly back. As they were running they saw a few in front of them. Taran and Ahsoka activated their lightsaber and hacked into them, sending limbs and bodies flying. The clones opened fire on them as well. Thankfully these zombies, unlike the ones on Geonosis, could die again. However, these new zombies were faster, stronger, and smarter than their Geonosian predecessors. This was seen as the zombies swarmed around Liner.

Liner fired into them, but for every zombie he shot down, many more took it's place. He was sragged screaming away as a zombie downed him and the others pulled him away. The other clones were faring poorly as well. The other three clones were dragged off too as they were cut off from the others and swarmed.

"We have to get out of here now!" said Ahsoka as she and Taran along with Boil and Waxer fought off the approaching zombies. Taran summoned enough of his strength and chi (that's bending energy for all who are not aware of the Avatar universe) and sent a massive jet of air through the zombie ranks in the direction of the compound. As the zombies were temporarily stunned the group took off running towards the compund, still way ahead of the zombies, but not too much.

* * *

Everyone else in the compund waited for the others to get back.

"They've been gone for about thirty minutes, what's taking them? They should have benn back by now" said Anakin.

"Patience Anakin, I sense that they'll be here soon," said Obi-Wan. The answer to that came faster than he expected as Taran, Ahsoka, Boil, and Waxer came running in through the door, Taran closing it shut rapidly behind them. They slumped on the ground, Boil and Waxer taking off their helmets, exhausted and shaken, as if something had scared them tremendously.

"Ahsoka, what happened? And where is Liner and the other three?" said Anakin.

"They got dragged off," said Ahsoka.

"Dragged off, by what?" said Obi-Wan. Taran calmed down enough to tell them the story of what happened.

"So that's Vindi's new experiment, zombies," said Obi-Wan.

"That's why those droids were acting suicidal. They wanted to kill enough clones to turn them against us," said Anakin.

"These ones can die sir," said Boil.

"How many are there now?" said Rex.

"Judging by what we saw sir, I'd say hundreds," said Waxer.

"Board up the doors and the windows, because unless I'm mistaken, we're in for the fight of our lives," said Obi-Wan.


	7. Night of the Living Dead

The windows were sealed with wooden boards found around the the floor of the compound. It was four Jedi, and twenty-five clones against an army of undead.

"Taran, are the windows and doors upstairs secure?" said Obi-Wan.

"Yes Master," said Taran.

"Anakin and Ahsoka, are all the downstairs ones secured?" said Obi-Wan.

"Yes," they said.

"Good. Pick a section to be at, that's where you're defending," said Obi-Wan.

"I'll take the downstairs," said Taran.

"Rex, Waxer, Ahsoka, and you men," said Anakin motioning to fourteen clone troopers, "go with him." They obliged. Taran went around the windows, seeing if any of the undead clones were coming for them. So far, not one was showing up.

"Where are they?" he muttered to himself. The answer to that came when he saw one zombie walking slowly towards the compound.

"Rex, can you pass me a blaster?" said Taran. Rex, though a bit confused, obliged. Taran got the gun and got the lumbering zombie into his sights.

"How do you use that?" said Ahsoka.

"Follow your target with the ironsights and your peripheral vision. Once he's checked, you fire," said Taran. He fired off one shot from the blaster. The zombies head shot off and it's body crumbled to the ground.

"Nice shot kid," said Rex.

"Thanks to your teaching Rex," said Taran as he handed him the blaster back. As they scanned out the windows they heard one of the clones shooting off his blaster. They turned to see him shooting at approaching zombies coming towards his window. They didn't have to look long because soon, small groups of zombies were coming from all directions. These first ones were lumbering only, not the running ones they had witnessed outside. They were easy to bring down. Once the clones had shot them down there was a lull.

"Taran and Ahsoka, get over here for a minute," said Rex. They huddled around him, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

"The way I see it, their weak point is the head. They can take multiple shots to anywhere else to bring them down," said Rex. "Anything someone else wants to bring up?"

"Yeah, if they all start attacking the windows back off and lob a thermal det into them, but make sure no one else is around that area," said Taran.

"Agreed, now let's go fry those things," said Rex. As they went back to their positions Taran saw that the zombies were still too far to get in close with a lightsaber, and to do that he hd to go outside, which is something equivalent to suicide. He and Ahsoka needed a blaster.

"Rex, do you have two blasters?" said Taran.

"Here kid," said Rex, lugging Taran two standard issue DC-15 carbines (the smaller ones the clones use). Taran handed one to Ahsoka.

"Taran, I've never used a blaster," said Ahsoka.

"I'll show you very quickly," said Taran. He guided Ahsoka to her window, where there was one lumbering zombie nearing the window. He got behind Ahsoka to show her how to correctly hold the blaster.

"Keep your left hand higher on the stock, keep your right hand on the trigger," he said. Ahsoka obliged. The zombie was getting closer and closer.

"Follow your iron sights down the barrel to where you want it at," said Taran. Ahsoka, with the help of Taran's hands, raised the blaster to the zombie's head.

"Now, FIRE!" said Taran. Ahsoka pulled the triger and the zombie went down.

"See, it's not that hard. Oh crap," said Taran. He'd forgotten all about his window. Two zombies were ripping down the boards. He pulled out his lightsaber, ran over to his window, and hacked their heads off. He then turned off his lightsaber, holstered it back to his belt, and began firing at the approaching zombies. Now the zombies started coming in groups of five to ten at a time. They all fought back as hard as they could, their guns shooting their maximum speed at the oncoming zombies. One clone, who's back was turned as zombies attacked the door behind him, was dragged away screaming as the zombies swarmed him.

The zombies that ripped down the door charged in. These were the fast moving type, and they were ready for blood.

"Finally," said Ahsoka. She put her blaster down, activated her lightsaber, and charged at them. Ten zombies had busted into the room, and more were coming. A clone lobbed a thermal det into their numbers. Ahsoka dove out of the way as the group of zombies blew up from the concussive energy of the bomb. The remianing zombies outside were killed off. However, the battle was far from over. Taran ran to the entrance of the door that the zombie's had broken through.

"I don't think we can survive another wave," said Taran.

"Head count, we had eighteen, now we have seventeen. We can survive kid," said Rex. More shrieks and howls were heard outside.

"Take positions," said Ahsoka. As Taran was about to run he felt a hand grab his foot, causing him to trip. He turned to see that a zombie, or half of one, was trying to drag him back towards him. Taran just flicked his wirst and the zombie's head went rolling away. Getting to his feet Taran bended a slab of earth in front of the door. sealing it. The clones at the windows continued firing into the mob of zombies outside. However, the zombie's losses were easily replaced. Their onslaught was too fierce for the clones to stop. The zombies began ripping down the boards to get inside of the room. The troopers began to fall back slowly. The battle for the windows was won by the zombies.

Taran and Ahsoka had their hands full as they rushed to save clones from the zombie mob. They weren't always successful, but the clones they managed to save was a bit more relief for them, for the moment. The survivors of the group were driven to the far corner of the room, away from their escape route to the upstairs.

"This really isn't going well," said Ahsoka.

"What was your first clue, before or after they broke in?" said Taran.

"We need to retreat upstairs," said Rex.

"Easier said than done," said Taran. "Boil, Waxer, and you guys, give me some cover fire." The clones poured their fire into the zombies as Taran built enough chi to firebend. Just as it looked like they would fall prey to the horde, the zombies in front caught on fire as Taran bended a jet of flame into them. The zombies howled as they slowly burned to deah. The way to the stairs was clear.

"Let's go," said Taran. Everyone ran for the stairs, Taran and Ahsoka cutting a path through for them for any zombies that hadn't fallen from the fire just yet. As they scrambled up the stairs a fresh horde of zombies came into the room. Waxer, the last one up, was seized by his legs and was being dragged back downstairs.

"Help!" he called. Taran and Ahsoka went back to get him. Ahsoka chopped the zombie's arms that were holding him as Taran helped him up. Scrambling back up the stairs Taran gathered up four thermal detonators and turned them on. He flung them to the foot of the stairs, where they disappeared under the zombie horde. He raced up the stairs as the bottom stairs blew up, sending zombie parts everywhere and causing the a part of the upstairs roof to collapse, sealing the stairs up.

"That should hold them for awahile," Taran muttered to himself.

* * *

The survivors of the group got to the upstairs safely. Looking around they saw that the group upsatirs had fared little better than they had. They saw parts of zombies lying all over the place, and also scorch marks from blasters all over the walls and missing clone troopers from the group.

"How did they get up here?" said Ahsoka.

"They climbed up. That was some tough fighting," said Anakina as they were taking a break from the wave of zombies that had attacked them.

"I don't think we can beat them, there's too many of them," said Cody.

"We have to find where Vindi, he probably has the commands for the zombies to attack us," said Obi-Wan.

"My senses tell me he's somewhere in the building, but where?" said Anakin.

"It might be underground," said Taran. They all felt around the walls to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, knowing that in a few minutes they would be swarmed by zombies. It was Boil who spotted a knob on a wall to the far left.

"Guys, I think I found something," said Boil. He pulled the nob and a part of the wall slid away to reveal a elevator, enough to hold twelve people, which is what they had.

"Sir, how do we know this is going to the right place?" said Waxer. A tumult of moans and shrieks came from outside.

"Only one way to find out," said Obi-Wan. They all piled into the elevator. Anakin pressed a button that read "Laboratory" and the door closed, taking them to it's destination.


	8. Hellhounds and Scientists

The elevator made it's slow descent down to the laboratory. As it was going the music playing was techno and scream music.

"This guy has some huge issues," said Taran.

"Why he would pick this genre, I will never know," said Ahsoka. The elevator stopped at the laboratory level. Everyone, weapons ready, cautiously walked forward. It was dark so Taran bended some flames in his palm to light the way. At every corner one of them peeled to look around to see if the coast was clear. Everytime there was nothing there for them to warn them of danger. As they walked through the lab they saw a looking room filled with green smoke.

"What could be in here?" said Anakin as he looked into the window. A zombie pressed itself on the glass, snarling and clawing at them. The group saw who it was, though he was barely recognizable now.

"It's a clone intelligence spy," said Rex. "What was he doing out here?"

"Whatever it was, it didn't do good for him," said Boil. They walked past the viewing room into what looked like a huge hangar, a medical table in the middle. The light to it was on, but only over it. Everywhere else was dark.

"Aww, Jedi and soldiers, welcome to my underground lair," said a voice from the shadows. Vindi stepped up to the table from the other side of the room. "I believe you can come out now Count and bounty hunter. Dooku walked up from the same place where Vindi was and stepped next to him. Two of the clones near the door were shot. Bane stood in front of the entrance they had just came in, holding his two pistols at them and smiling evilly.

"As you can see, your doom is near," said Dooku.

"The only doom I'm seeing is with you, you, and him," said Anakin motioning to the three of them.

"You didn't show them the surprise yet, did you doctor?" said Dooku.

"No, I was saving it for later, but now is the best time. If you've noticed you can see that my latest experiment raises the dead, but only for biological life. That way, your losses in battles will be our new forces, and if you have seen, they can take more punishment then they did in life. They can only be awakened once I have flipped a switch," said Vindi showing them a remote, "so that they don't become too unstable. If they do then back to the grave for them.

"You're insane," said Taran.

"Maybe, Jedi, but it depends on your point of view," said Vindi. "Like for instance, why insult my intelligence when you have none to boot?"

"I'm about to stick my lightsaber so far up your--," said Taran.

"Ah, buh buh, careful Jedi, don't get too angry, and use small words," said Vindi. "Now where was I, oh yes, you are about to witness my next creation very shortly.

"And what would that be?" said Obi-Wan. Vindi flipped a switch. As they looked small balls of electricity were forming on the floor in random places. A bang came from every one of them and out came large, doglike creatures. They looked like they were corpses themselves. Half-decayed flesh, glowing red eyes, and large, sharp teeth flashed they had. There was about forty dogs, and only ten of them.

"What the hell are these?" said Rex.

"I call them hellhounds, they have a vicious appetite for flesh, and also very obedient to it's master," said Vindi. "Children, fetch me there SOULS!"

"The dogs bounded towards the group. Taran, Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan took out their lightsabers and cut down any dogs heading for them. Rex, Cody, Boil, Waxer, and the remaining two clones fired at them. The hellhounds could take a lot of punishment from the clone's blasters. Three of them pounced on a clone trooper and began to tear him to pieces. However, with a lightsaber they were easy prey. Taran cut a dog in half from the head down to the tail. A hellhound tried to jump on him while his back was turned, but what it got a jaw full of plasma from a blast of Rex's blaster.

Anakin and Ahsoka went back-to-back, same as Taran and Obi-Wan. The clones huddled together. The hellhounds circled them, trying to find a weakness and isolate them from each other. About twenty of them were left, but many of the survivors had blaster marks or the slash of a lightsaber on them and were weakened. Looking up, Taran saw that the ceiling above was stone too.

_"Note to self, always check to see if there is any stone in there," _he thought. He raised his arms and brought them back down. The ceiling came down on the heads of the hellhounds, flattening them and leaving purple-red blood on the floor.

"Your pets are dead Vindi, give up now," said Obi-Wan.

"I don't think so," said Vindi. He flipped another switch. A door on the far right side opened and out poured zombies. They didn't attack the group right away, but edged around them, forcing the group into a circle, their backs turned in towards each other, facing the zombie horde in front of them.

"Now give up Jedi, and I promise your lives will be spared," said Dooku. Bane had crossed the room over to him, looking intently at them, waiting for them to die.

"Master, what do we do?" said Taran quietly, so that only the group could hear him.

"Remember what Long told you, the Breath of the Dragon?" said Obi-Wan.

"Oh," said Taran.

"Then, we'll try to make a break for Vindi," said Anakin.

"Got it," said Ahsoka.

"This is our answer Dooku," said Obi-Wan. Taran blew flames at the zombies. The ones in the front ranks caught fire while the others recoiled from the light of the fire. The clones fired into the confused ranks while Taran and Ahsoka climbed on to their masters' shoulders and leaped off over the zombies to Vindi. They landed in front of Dooku and Bane. Dooku pulled out his lightsaber and the fight was on. Ahsoka dealt with Dooku while Taran handled Bane. Bane took out two metal objects. They were daggers made out of phrik metal and put one in each hand. Then he sprung at Taran.

Taran deflected the first blows and began to attack Bane with some attacks of his own. His lightsaber flashed everywhere around Bane, trying to make Bane overreact to anything allow him to find a weakness to the bounty hunter. Ahsoka was attacking Dooku with just as much, the Sith Lord was deflecting her blows like they were nothing.

"Come on youngling, is that the best you can do?" he taunted.

"I'll show you what I can do," she said defiantly. She faked a slash to the head, came from behind to hit his lightsaber away, and kicked him in the gut. It didn't do much, but it did get Dooku off balance a little. Bane began to press Taran. Up, down, left, right, from all directions his attacks came. Taran continued to block the blows. When Bane lunged for a stab, Taran sidestepped and slashed his lightsaber across Bane's shoulder. Bane screamed in pain and backed away. Before Taran could pursue him zombies from behind grabbed him. He had to use his Airbending to blow them off him and slash and hack them to keep them off him. He bended a slab of stone from the ceiling and aimed it at Dooku. Dooku was hti from the side and slammed into the wall, allowing Ahsoka a clear shot to Vindi. Vindi began to run.

"Ahsoka, remember the lightsaber throw I showed you," said Taran as he chopped away at zombies threatening to swarm him. Ahsoka threw her lightsaber, and concentrated on getting the lightsaber to hit the remote. Vindi's remote was sliced in half, and haywired. The zombies immediately started clutching their throats as if they were suffocating, and then fell on the ground, dead for good.

"Let's go," said Bane. He, Dooku, and Bane raced for an exit. Taran bended a gust of wind that sent Vindi falling to the ground. Bane and Dooku made it to the exit and disappeared. Taran came up and grabbed Vindi by his collar.

"Next time, when you want to escape, don't get overconfident, and use smaller exits," said Taran.


	9. Cleanup and Aftermath

The sun on the planet rose for all to see it was dawn. LAAT's from the _Resolute _landed to transfer more men to collect the dead from the field. Taran and Ahsoka personally escorted a bound and cuffed Vindi to an awaiting transport ship that would take him back to Coruscant to await trial for his crimes.

"Many of our men died here today," said Obi-Wan to Anakin, Rex, and Cody. Boil and Waxer were with the other troopers tasked with collecting the dead.

"But their sacrifce won't be in vain," said Anakin.

"How long will the Seps go at doing these things?" said Rex.

"I don't know Rex, but we have to stop them everywhere they rear their ugly heads," said Anakin.

"Did you find any trace of Dooku or Bane?" said Obi-Wan.

"No, it appears he and the bounty hunter have gotten off planet. There was a fighter missing in an underground hangar," said Cody.

"Great, they got away again," said Anakin.

"Don't worry Anakin, we'll find them again soon," said Obi-Wan. "At least for now we can recover from our losses and see to it that this doesn't happen again."

* * *

"You did good with the saber throw," said Taran while she and him were escorting Vindi. Thankfully, his mouth was tied, but by the sounds coming from his mouth he wasn't too thrilled about it.

"Thanks," said Ahsoka. "He's all yours boys," she said to the clones as they grabbed Vindi and threw him onto the ship. She turned back around to Taran and said, "But I learned from the best."

"I try to be, but I'm not the best," said Taran.

"Well, besides Anakin, to me you are the best," she said as they started to walk back. They got back to them just as Boil and Waxer came back.

"Sir, we've gotten all the bodies and destroyed all the lab equipment in there," said Waxer.

"Good, have all the bodies been accounted for?" said Obi-Wan.

"Yes sir," said Boil.

"Taran, if you mind?" said Obi-Wan.

"Not at all," said Taran. Concentrating he slipped out the earth from under the piled bodies so that they stood in a mass grave. Then he slowly placed the gravel back on them, making the dead clones graves their final resting place.

"Thanks Taran," said Anakin.

"Anytime," said Taran.

* * *

"I hope that never happens again," said Rex when they had gotten back onto the _Resloute_.

"Yeah, next time they should use a creature instead. Won't that be fun Rex?" said Taran. Rex just glared at him like he was crazy.

"Kid, what is with you and these little comments?" said Rex.

"I just do that to get on your nerves," said Taran. Rex just chuckled.

"Kid, when it comes to getting on my nerves, you take the cake," said Rex. As he walked away Taran went back to the hangar to see R3.

"Hey buddy, you miss me?" said Taran. R3 whirred and clicked happily. Taran didn't have to look on the communicator pad to get that answer.

"Hey, did you get those blueprints done while I was away?" said Taran. R3 went over to a nearby table and handed him three pieces of blue paper with schematics over them.

"Thanks, these new fighters will give us some edge. But this is just the rough draft. I'll send this to the Council to see if they like it," said Taran. He rolled them up and placed them in his starfighter. He said bye to R3 and began to walk back to his room. When he got there he saw Ahsoka laying down on his bed, reading some of his bending scrolls. He sat down next to her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" said Taran.

"Just going over your Breath of the Dragon move," said Ahsoka.

"It's an advanced Firebending move that allows to shoot flames from your mouth," said Taran.

"I'm glad you didn't do that when we were kissing, I would have been so mad," said Ahsoka.

"Yeah, I would have looked even ten times worse than when you beat me up," said Taran. Ahsoka laughed and put the scroll down. She gazed at Taran's eyes, the green eyes that so captivated her.

"Why is it our lives are so dangerous?" said Ahsoka.

"I guess it's that 'not everything's silver and gold' lifestyle," said Taran. "And a Jedi's life is difficult."

"Yes, but still, it's like everywhere we go someone's trying to kill us at every turn," said Ahsoka.

"Soka, in a war someone's always going to try and kill you. It's just how life is," said Taran. Ahsoka sank into the bed and looked at the ceiling.

"I sometimes feel like your the wise one. Here I am, after almost a year into the war, and you just arrive and can take these kind of things better than I can," she said. Taran layed down on the bed next to her and cradled her in his arms.

"It's okay. Just because of that doesn't make you a weaker person. THe person who shows emotion through this is the stronger person," said Taran. He kissed the top of her head.

"You use to be such a happy, carefree person. What happened?" said Ahsoka.

"I fell in love with somebody," said Taran, looking at her lovingly in her eyes.

"Do I know her?" said Ahsoka.

"You'd like her. She's smart, funny, talented, very aggreasive at times, but still a very strong, friendly person," said Taran.

"And how do you feel about her?" said Ahsoka, knowing the answer.

"Like this," said Taran, kissing her passionately. Ahsoka wrapped her arms around him and accepted it. They had been through a lot together, but nothing they couldn't get past. They knew in the future things would get rough, but for now they wanted nothing but to keep each other safe.


	10. Epilogue

**Hope you liked the story. I think I've just gave you an early Christmas present, bumping up the release date a day. Anyway the next story will be out next week on New Years. Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Mele Kalikimaka, and Happy Holidays!**


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